Althea, the eldest of five children born to Cecil and Loretta (Briese) Wirth, was born on January 27, 1949 in Detroit Lakes. She grew up on a farm in rural Frazee, and graduated from Frazee High School with the class of 1967.

Following high school, Althea attended Fergus Falls Junior College and graduated with an Associate of Arts degree. She then went on to attend Moorhead State College, where she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education.

Althea accepted a teaching position with the Moorhead Public Schools, where she retired after 34 years of teaching. She was a member of Delta Kappa Gamma, which is an educational sorority, as well as Altrusa International, a professional women's service organization, where she held several offices.

Althea loved to travel, read, cook, collect antiques, watch movies and spend time outdoors. She especially enjoyed the time she spent with her family and friends. Althea will be dearly missed by all those who had the privilege of knowing her.

Surviving Althea are one brother, Ron Wirth, and two sisters, Deb Wirth and Sharry (Denny) Davis all of Frazee; five nieces and one nephew; two great nieces and eight great nephews..